As eyes of the world focus on Iraq, the rest of the world's hotspots get hotter

Crises deepen in India and North Korea. Indian-Pakistani relations deteriorated to a dangerous level yesterday after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for a massacre in Kashmir earlier this week. Early yesterday India test-fired a nuclear-capable missile and, a few hours later, Pakistan followed suit. The confrontation between the neighbours, both nuclear powers, is the most serious of a number of troublespots bubbling up while the focus of Washington and Europe is fixed on the war in Iraq. North Korea, another nuclear power, also took a series of provocative steps yesterday aimed at antagonising Washington, including ending one of the few vehicles for contact left open with the US. It also announced a rise in defence spending. The war in Iraq has disrupted US-Russian strategic arms reduction talks. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict hovers on the brink of a new catastrophe. Full Story

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